"I know you ain't walking back in here without the boss's money"
A large burly man with thick muscled arms stared at him with intense fury. However, Darren was a quick thinker. With a swift kick, he landed a blow on the man's scrotum.
A direct hit to the nut sack was enough to bring down even the mightiest of men, and that's exactly what happened, the burly man dropped to his knees and curled into a fetal position as the pain rendered him momentarily mute.
"I told you son of bitch, I'll give back the money this soon"
Darren expressed as he fixed his clothes and began walking to one of the tables.
"You sure that's what you want Darren? Putting out Gus like that means you're challenging, Boss Bulat"
Another man who had been seated in one of the tables at the corner chimed in, giving the young man a warning. The man had a shaggy and unkempt beard with a black jacket and a black hat.
Everyone with any relationship to the slums knew who Bulat was and they knew he was the man who practically ruled the slum area of the entire capital and to piss him off was something worse than just death.
"I know Dan, this guy just pisses me off sometimes"
Darren answered while pointing at the sorry state of the man named Gus.
However, his actions have basically guaranteed that the job he was going to do was no longer a solo job, harming one of Bulat's men was already a death sentence
"I hope you have something for him then, otherwise you're dead"
"I know"
Darren responded, already feeling a bit angry at himself for his reckless action. He decided to forgo the seat and instead chose to just go upstairs and take a nap.
'Fucking hell'
He inwardly cursed, he couldn't help but have the urge to turn around and kick Gus in the balls once again but he decided against that.
While he ascended the stairs he quickly halted his steps, as a realisation struck him. It was obvious Gus was going to inform Bulat but Bulat will probably ask to see him tomorrow.
"Ugh!"
He groaned, now he practically had no choice but to steal something from the new house, otherwise, after all, if Bulat finds out what happened to Gus he'll start demanding Darren pay his debt and if he can't, it's a whole lecture and probably broken bones
This way he can pocket whatever he gets today and then settle for a smaller cut later that way he still gets something.
"Fuck me! "
He uttered with an angry scowl on his face, That stupid motherfucker Gus just had to ambush him like that, now any possible profit he would have made from that house was gone. Bulat wouldn't have asked for his money for at least another month so anything he would have stolen would be his to pocket, now that's ruined.
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The newlywed couple had finally settled into their home after having placed everything in its place. Now the two were having a meal together, one that had been prepared by Esme.
It wasn't a big meal since Arthur had yet to go to the market to buy some food and stuff for two people but he did have some food in the pantry and meat in the fridge.
Interestingly enough this world had fridges and stoves but they were quite primitive, nowhere near as advanced as ones in the 21st century but they worked well enough.
"How much servant staff do you think we need?"
Arthur asked his wife, who hummed in contemplation before speaking her suggestion.
"I think two maids will be enough, this house isn't too big and between me and the maids we can maintain it well enough"
He nodded to her words, her tone felt happier than he had initially thought, he figured this was probably because the maids are going to be women and she'll feel more comfortable with them.
"I see, very well, what about guards?"
He asked. The house was quite spacious and occupied a decently large portion of land, so he figured a large number of guards would be adequate.
"Is that not up to your discretion, husband?"
She raised a brow as she asked, Protection and safety were the duty of the husband, so anything regarding that was his to decide.
"Yeah but I want to hear your thoughts and opinion, this way we can both get a result we want, and I want to know what number of guards you would consider to be safe"
She did not know what to say to that, She didn't believe her thoughts on the matter were relevant however after a bit of thought she answered.
"I have lived in the castle my whole life, I don't think I know what a safe number of guards would be since I have never thought about the topic"
He once again hummed and nodded, he supposed as a princess she never really had to consider the idea, so he decided to decide by himself if she had no opinion.
He took a bite out of the chicken leg and he couldn't help but open his eyes wide, the flavor exploded in his mouth, lathering his tongue with a savoury taste of chicken that reminded him of what food cooked by someone who cared tasted like.
"Should we take turns cooking?"
He suggested asking, although he will admit he's never cooked for another person before, not in his old life nor his current one.
As an explorer he has never actually cooked a full-course meal for himself or anyone else, there are usually not many ingredients for that or sometimes he's in a hurry to finish a job so he never cooks meals for himself to sit down and eat.
His days were usually spent simply cooking whatever edible things he found on an open flame and adding a little salt or he simply ate fruits that didn't need to be cooked, so actually cooking properly was something he hadn't done in his current life.
The sound of a spoon hitting the plate forced Arthur to move his attention to his wife, he saw the look of shock in her face.
"What is it?"
"Does the food not satisfy your palate? Is my cooking so terrible?"
He saw a glimpse of hurt in her face that was quickly hidden by a stoic facade as she asked him such questions.
"What?! No that's not it, the food is delicious, in fact, I'm impressed with its taste"
"Then why would you suggest cooking yourself, if my cooking was up to par?"
Arthur let out a sigh of relief, he supposed that was his mistake. This was why he wanted to court her properly, to be able to learn what to and what not to do.
"I apologize, your cooking is more than good enough, I was just suggesting that because cooking for me every day will be tiring and sometimes you might not be feeling well enough to cook"
He clarified and she let out a sound of realisation before she showed an amused smile.
"Nothing of the sort will happen Arthur, I will always cook for you, just as you will provide for me but in the event that I am unable to do my duties, the maids will do that for me, there is no need for you to do anything, men don't belong in the kitchen, if they did all food would be char and ash"
She explained and chuckled at the end of her last sentence, Arthur was able to understand that the last part was something of a joke.
"I see, I suppose my hands are only good for killing monsters after all"
He expressed with a small chuckle, he was starting to understand some things about this kingdom, well some glimpses at least.
Esme giggled at his joke and Arthur found out that her giggle was quite melodious and pleasant on the ear, he couldn't help but want to hear more of it unfortunately he was never a good jokester.
He sighed in relief as the mood became light-hearted again. He made a mental note to be careful with his words and try to learn the customs of this kingdom to prevent scaring her like that again.
"By the way, how are we going to find maids?"
He asked, realising that there were no agencies or companies that they could go to to hire servants.
"No need to worry about that, just putting out a word will attract all the unmarried women in the neighborhood who do not have any work"
Arthur nodded as he figured putting word out meant either telling the neighbours and having them relay it through word of mouth; he'd dread it if it meant going door to door.